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Lake of Hope
Lake of Hope Lake of Hope (leɪk ʌv hoʊp) is a small freshwater lake located in the approximately 7 mi (11.2 kilometer) north of San Tobong, California. Lake of Hope is a natural lake that was formed about 3 million years ago and given its name in 1473 for the first time. It is currently owned and operated by Santa Clara County. Geography Lake of Hope is the third deepest lake in the U.S., with a maximum depth of 1,578 feet. Hope is the 18th deepest lake in the world. It is about 15 mi long and 9 mi wide and has 68 of shoreline and a surface area of 180 square miles. Visibility may vary somewhat with atmosphere refraction, but usually provides great view point. Hope is famous for its cliff that was created by a nature. It’s about 13,000 ft tall and 6,000 ft wide. On the bottom of the cliff, there is a U-shaped river cut canyons, creating domes such as Mug Dome. Natural History To the right side of Lake of Hope, there is a ‘non-drying spring water.’ Myth was that if one drink from that spring, it would cure all the disease. None of this myth were scientifically proved, but this was a major tourist attraction in California. Every year, there were approximately 30,000 people visiting the lake and took the water from the spring. Due to its over hyped popularity, Santa Clara county closed the lake for the year of 2012, and re-opened the lake for the public starting in the beginning of the year 2013. However, for the preservation purpose, any kind of recreation is prohibited at the lake, and there are limited number of people accessing the spring every month. Fortunately, even with the concerns of health issues of drinking water from the spring, there are mostly positive feedbacks in curing disease from many people around the world. These testimonies from all around the world only increase the people wanting to visit the Lake of Hope. Environmental Issues Water quality Even though Santa Clara county is limited the number of people taking the water from the spring, there are still a large amount of people taking the water from the spring. Some people are taking the water from the lake itself if they are not able to access the spring. This caused the problem of health issue along with an environmental issue. Water-nutrient studies showed that the quality of lake water is decreasing and due to California drought issue, lake is slowly drying out. However, after the closing the lake in 2012, researchers stated that the quality of lake’s water got better and recovered its quality 90 percent. Increased protection efforts With the system of limiting the number of visitors of the lake, there are many researchers and scientists trying to preserve the nature of the Lake of Hope. Santa Clara county created an organization called HBF (Hope for Better Future), and they operate the overall lake systems. Transportation Lake of Hope cannot be recharged directly by car, nor train or air. There is a public parking space available (Tomn Park), and people must hike for about 10 miles to reach the actual lake. Biking is available but mostly recommend walking.